Where did the old Echo Park go?

The blogger known as Chimatli on LA Eastside recalls fond memories of her family’s many decades in Echo Park. But the neighborhood no longer feels like home. The renovated bungalows are now occupied by newcomers and the old stores are now hangouts for the young and ironic, not the working class and Latino, Chimatli writes:

“Now when I go to Echo Park I’m reminded of David Hoch’s quote “I feel like I’m a tourist in my own city.” It’s beginning to feel more and more like a hipster Disneyland.”

One comment

This happens to lots of neighborhoods all over the planet. There are working class Latinos all over LA. Nothing stays the same. Some areas get better, but the people who you knew as a kid have probably all gone in different directions and wouldn’t be there anyway.

Even when I go back to my hometown, where I went to High School, all new people have moved in. The houses just got more expensive.

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